Warren Bonifacio (4) and the Mapua Cardinals celebrate after beating the Lyceum Pirates in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament. NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Mapua squeaked past Lyceum, 62-59, at the start of the second round of the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Sunday.
The Cardinals posted their second straight win and dealt the Pirates only their third loss of the season.
“We played as a team. Even when we were down we did not collapse. I think that’s the factor for our back-to-back wins. We all did our roles,” said Mapua guard JJ Pido, who led his team in scoring with 11 points, in Filipino.
Warren Bonifacio sank a clutch jumper from midrange to give the Cardinals a 60-55 cushion with 32.4 seconds left.
Mac Guadaña answered with his own triple for Lyceum before Pido buried a pair of free throws to seal the game, 62-58.
Adrian Nocum, Warren Bonifacio and Joaqui Garcia added 10 points each for Mapua, which improved to 2-8. Bonifacio also hauled down 14 rebounds.
Guadaña was the sole double-digit scorer for Lyceum (7-3) with a game-high 15 points. Omar Larupay had eight points and nine rebounds.
The Scores:
MAPUA 62 — Pido 11, Nocum 10, Bonifacio 10, Garcia 10, Hernandez 7, Mercado 4, Soriano 4, Cuenco 2, Parinas 2, Agustin 2, Salenga 0, Igliane 0, Lacap 0.
LYCEUM 59 — Guadana 15, Larupay 8, Umali 7, Bravo 6, Cunanan 6, Barba 4, Navarro 4, Montano 4, Villegas 3, Valdez 2, Penafiel 0, Omandac 0. Quarters: 12-18, 30-29, 42-48, 62-59.